A COMMON refrain one hears these days from experts and those who vow they know as much as experts is that Bhasha dam will do wonders for the country and its future.

Let us say that Bhasha dam is commissioned in 10 years time (though it is likely to take much longer). The following is going to be the likely scenario come flood time: the farmers of Sindh and south Punjab will asl( why Bhasha dam has not stopped the floods. The farmers of north Punjab and D.I. Khan will wonder why they are not getting water from the dam.

The answer to these queries will be: these floods are from Kabul, Chitral, Swat, Haro and Soan rivers which join the Indus south of Bhasha and Tarbela dam, and only the Kalabagh dam can moderate the floods from these rivers.

Furthermore, the water from Bhasha dam will be flowing in the Indus which is 150 feet below the lands in north Punjab. Thus north Punjab will get water from Bhasha dam only if the level of Indus is raised by 150 feet by building a dam.

Ultimately this will prove to be a big disappointment, because the people were told that there was no need to build Kalabagh dam and Bhasha dam will meet all our energy and water needs.

The question that will beg an answer is: why 30 million acre feet of invaluable water is still going down the drain when the Indus delta needs only 8.8 maf for its rehabilitation? E ngr Khurshid Anwer Lahore